Google Adwords Now Targets Zip Codes, Other Enhancements

In an effort to help advertisers create and manage ad campaigns more relevant to local customers, Google has recently introduced a number of new features designed to help advertisers create and manage local ads more effectively, starting with the ability to target ads by zip code. This is great news for local businesses who want to create ad campaigns targeting a more specific local area. Research has shown that more than 20% of searches on Google are location-targeted, and that 88% of people searching for local information take action within a day. Advertisers will be able to select from a possible 30,000 zip codes currently present in Google’s system, and up to 1,000 zip codes can be added to an ad campaign.

Performance statistics and data at the postal code level will be made available via the web interface. Additionally, Google has also rolled out a new location insertion feature for ads. Using this feature, advertisers will no longer need to worry about creating new ad text for each specific location they are advertising in. Simply insert a special bracket-enclosed tag, like so: “Find a {lb.city:local} store today!”, and Google’s system will automatically replace the tag with the viewer’s city name. Finally, Google has made several enhancements to the ‘advanced location targeting’ feature, including re-wording the available options in the back-end to make them easier to understand by advertisers, and changing the way ads are displayed in targeted locations.